We found a baby fox

@shaggin (68199)
United States
March 17, 2023 12:29pm CST
Wednesday night when I was giving the baby a bath the outside dogs (my husbands hunting beagles) started barking. It carried on for about a half hour. I finally went in and asked if he can hear them and he said no. I told them they had been freaking out for a long time and he needed to go check in case one got out of its kennel. He came back in a bit later with a baby fox in a bucket. First we thought it was a coyote but in the light we could see better that it had black tips on its ears and a white tip on its tail. Oh my gosh was it cute and it made the funniest bark. I called a rehabilitation place which was a two hour drive. The woman was willing to drive up where to get it since it was dark and he didn’t want me on the roads that late with the baby to meet her halfway. One volunteer drove an hour to come pick it up and arrived at midnight. She then drove it 45 minutes from here to give it to a woman who would take care of it over night and take it to the rehabilitation place in the morning. My husband wasn’t happy with me. He found the set of mom and dads prints going to our pigeon coop. He thinks the baby climbed out of its den and followed their trail and wound up in the empty spot in the beagles kennel where he found it. My husband has wanted to put it back outside for the parents to come for but it was cold and snowy and who knows how long it had already been out there in those elements. It was small maybe 6 weeks old. I didn’t want a coyote or something to kill it or it freeze to death out there. The fox was here for 4 hours and the parents never came looking for it nor did they overnight so I made the right decision getting ahold of the rehabilitation people. Photo is of the baby fox.
15 people like this
15 responses
@JimBo452020 (43990)
• Montrose, Scotland
17 Mar
You made the right decision. No doubt about that. I would have made another choice. I would have kept it and reared it lol and made a pet out of it. Done it before about 20 years ago.
3 people like this
@shaggin (68199)
• United States
18 Mar
@Jimbo452020 that’s awesome you raised one. I don’t think it is legal here. Some things you can get a special license to have but I don’t think a fox is one. I know we can’t have hedgehogs .
3 people like this
@JimBo452020 (43990)
• Montrose, Scotland
18 Mar
@shaggin It's not legal here either. But so what!! Fkin lawmakers heads is up themasses
3 people like this
@JimBo452020 (43990)
• Montrose, Scotland
18 Mar
@shaggin Oh we raised about a dozen hedgehogs before putting them out in the garden again. Kept them until they all weighed 900g. Them had worked up early from hibernianation
3 people like this
@sjvg1976 (40150)
• Delhi, India
17 Mar
Parents of baby fox must be worried about it. Your husband has a logic for it.
3 people like this
@shaggin (68199)
• United States
17 Mar
@sjvg1976 @Tina30219 thank you both. My husband thought he looked old enough he wouldn’t need to be bottle fed so she should be able to survive fine in the rehabilitation center
@Tina30219 (78977)
• Onaway, Michigan
17 Mar
@shaggin I agree with you you did the right thing. I hope the fox is ok and taken good care of
2 people like this
@marguicha (201266)
• Chile
17 Mar
I can understand your husband but I´d do the same you did. Yo probably saved the little baby fox´life.
2 people like this
@shaggin (68199)
• United States
17 Mar
@marguicha yes I definitely could see his point I felt bad taking it away from this area in case the parents did come back but they didn’t so it’s good I called.
2 people like this
@marguicha (201266)
• Chile
17 Mar
@shaggin You had to save the baby.
2 people like this
@RebeccasFarm (90586)
• Wheat Ridge, Colorado
17 Mar
Cute little fox babe.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (68199)
• United States
18 Mar
@RebeccasFarm I finally remembered to share the video of him on Facebook I wish I could share it here but if I use my YouTube account it will show people my real name and old videos of my kids etc .
1 person likes this
• Wheat Ridge, Colorado
18 Mar
@shaggin Is there another video site you could upload it to? And you can make videos private on YouTube old ones or whatever just sayin.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (68199)
• United States
18 Mar
@RebeccasFarm I’m not sure how to do that. I’d do it then share the link with you privately you mean?
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (428176)
• Switzerland
18 Mar
Oh my goodness, she is so cute. You did the right thing to call. If the baby was already outside for hours and the parents did not come back she was long and risked to die.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (68199)
• United States
18 Mar
@LadyDuck thank you. My husband as a hunting and meat eater feels different than I do. He thinks if something else eats it that’s nature.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (68199)
• United States
19 Mar
@LadyDuck my mother said that and said her mother would have done the same and she felt this baby was guided here by her. I live in the house my grandparents lived in.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (428176)
• Switzerland
19 Mar
@shaggin - I try to save and protect the baby animals. I think that when they come to our gardens it's a sign that they need protection.
1 person likes this
@CarolDM (201121)
• United States
17 Mar
How cute. I am so happy you called a rehab center. Glad it is being taken care of now. Good for you, probably saved its life.
2 people like this
@shaggin (68199)
• United States
17 Mar
@CarolDm my husband thought it should be put back outside and if a wild animal got it that’s natures way and not everything lives. I said well thanks to these rehabilitation people this one will!
2 people like this
@CarolDM (201121)
• United States
17 Mar
@shaggin That is so true, it can be very dangerous out there especially for babies. You did good.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (150197)
• United States
18 Mar
Those are hard decisions to make. I am glad you got ahold of a rehab place.
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (41087)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
18 Mar
Poor thing looks a bit forlorn.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (68199)
• United States
18 Mar
@BarbaraPrz I can imagine he was very scared thankfully in the bucket then cat carrier our dogs didn’t bother him. I had him on top of the fuse ball table and when he would bark the kitten would jump up and stare at him.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (144551)
• Boise, Idaho
17 Mar
What a cute little guy. I think you made the right decision for all the reasons you give.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (68199)
• United States
18 Mar
@celticeagle thank you I’m glad since my husband didn’t think so.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (114743)
• India
18 Mar
Waiting for the parents to arrive would have been risky as you said they had four hours to do it and they did not. You did the right thing
1 person likes this
@allknowing (114743)
• India
18 Mar
1 person likes this
@jstory07 (127030)
• Roseburg, Oregon
19 Mar
That baby fox could have froze outside. You did the right thing.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (68199)
• United States
19 Mar
@jstory07 thank you. I asked my husband why the parents wouldn’t come back for it if his tracks looking for more scared them off and he thought that was likely the exact reason. Well it will have a new home now. I’m hoping the rehabilitation center will make a facebook post about it sometime I’d love to see him grow and be released into the wild.
@Fleura (25012)
• United Kingdom
17 Mar
The poor little thing, glad it's being taken care of (although not so great for the pigeons)
1 person likes this
@shaggin (68199)
• United States
18 Mar
@Fleura well we found that the pigeon coop my husband built is fox proof so that’s one good thing about all this.
1 person likes this
@Fleura (25012)
• United Kingdom
18 Mar
@shaggin oh yes that's definitely good!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (304466)
• Rockingham, Australia
18 Mar
That was a lot of trouble for a lot of people but good for you. It would have been a bit cruel to leave it out in the weather.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (68199)
• United States
18 Mar
@Judyev I wanted to drive it half way to meet the woman but my husband wouldn’t let me especially with the baby. I have nights blindness it’s extremely hard for me to drive at night and there are deee everywhere right now. I’m so thankful for these women for doing this for that little fox.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (304466)
• Rockingham, Australia
18 Mar
@shaggin That was good of them but it obviously wasn't a good choice for you.
1 person likes this
@Beestring (10353)
• Hong Kong
18 Mar
That is a cute baby fox. I think you made the right decision.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (68199)
• United States
18 Mar
@Beestring it’s is so adorable you should have heard it barking.
1 person likes this
@yukimori (9783)
• United States
17 Mar
Something to keep in mind is that most wildlife rehabilitation organizations usually have limited budgets and would greatly prefer to keep uninjured wild animals where they belong. Our local one will question people about the animal they've found and in a lot of cases like "abandoned" baby pronghorn or fledglings they'll usually tell the person to leave it alone and monitor from a distance unless there's an obvious injury. The fact that they came and picked up the little fox is a good sign that calling was the right choice to make.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (68199)
• United States
17 Mar
@yukimori this woman was already on her way before my husband even came back in the house. He had gone back out to search around in case there were anymore (if the mother was killed they might have been abandoned and wandered off). From his rear to his head was only the length of my hand. He was very little he wouldn’t have survived out there. In the summer maybe longer but not with how long he could have already been out there in those temperatures and snow. These volunteers are amazing to drive hours to get these animals then get up with them all night feeding them so they live.
1 person likes this